Stuart Halse has contributed to an article recently published by BirdLife Australia as part of their Birds of the Murray-Darling Basin Conservation Statement [link]. The work undertaken in 2008 took 2 months and three aircraft to complete, surveying waterbirds across 4,858 wetlands in Australia.
This national waterbird survey was of an unprecedented scale and recorded much needed information on waterbird numbers and distributions across Australia. This information is vital in conservation efforts and in identifying the health of waterbird communities within Australia. More broadly, it is also indicative of overall wetland sustainability. The full publication of Birds of the Murray-Darling Basin is available to view on BirdLife Australia’s website [link] (news item link).